With abortions at record low levels in Pennsylvania, it is clear that demand for abortion is declining. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that abortion facilities want to find a way to increase their clientele.
As a result, fifteen of the seventeen abortion centers in Pennsylvania have filed a lawsuit, seeking to end Pennsylvania’s long-standing ban on Medicaid abortions. They want to overturn a 1985 state Supreme Court ruling which affirmed the Medicaid abortion ban as Constitutional.
Decades after that Supreme Court ruling, nothing has changed–except the desperation of abortion businesses to prop up their sagging industry.
The 1980s era ruling noted that the Commonwealth has a policy of preference for childbirth over abortion. Despite the protestations of abortion advocates, that has not changed.
Neither has the High Court holding that, just because an individual can exercise a “choice,” that does not mean that taxpayers must subsidize it. Indeed, public opinion polls have consistently shown that the vast majority of taxpayers do not want to pay for abortions.
A lawyer for the plaintiffs in this latest lawsuit claims that poor women suffer because they cannot obtain an abortion. But the suit fails to recognize the many documented ways that women can suffer as a result of abortion–psychologically, physically, and spiritually.
The plaintiffs also ignore the concrete help that is available to Pennsylvania women facing challenging circumstances. Women are receiving everything from diapers to formula to assist them during tough times.
The answer to the problem of poverty is not abortion. Abortion only creates more problems for Pennsylvania women.
Forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for abortions is an unconstitutional overreach. As a result, this latest lawsuit is just one more way the abortion industry is trying to require individuals to violate their consciences–all for the benefit of the abortion businesses’ almighty dollar.
Maria V. Gallagher is Legislative Director for the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation.